Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Bath night

I love bath night.

The Bean gets a bath twice a week. Ever since she was a tiny little Bean, she and I have been getting in to the big tub together for her baths. It's mostly practical. When she was tiny, she couldn't sit up on her own, so I would lay her out on my legs for her bath. Now that she can sit very well, she doesn't put up with laying down for her baths, but I'm in there to be sure that she's stable and safe.

The Bean gets excited now when she knows it's bath time. She hears the water running as we undress her, and she kicks her legs frantically. When we bring her in to the bathroom and set her on the bathmat, she crawls over to the tub and peers at the water, waiting impatiently for her turn to get in. She laughs and smiles and gets up on her tippy toes trying to get in the tub. When the water is right, I pull her into the tub with me.

We have a number of toys for the bath. Some rubber duckys (of course!), some little plastic animals, some stacking cups that her daddy bought her. Her favorite thing is to suck on the washcloth while she splashes. She likes when a toy is "hidden" inside one of the cups and she has to pull it back out.

We play for a few minutes, singing and splashing. Then we take a second washcloth and start to wash all her little itty bitty parts. We start with the toes, which makes her squeal. The her chubby little legs and her round little belly. Then her arms and back. And finally her face (she does not like this part one bit, thank you). Then we soap up her blonde hair, give her a tiny mohawk.

Finally, before the bath is done, I wrap her little squirmy body with my arms. She is usually trying to do something very important with one of her toys, but lets me hug her anyway. Husband lays out her hooded towel in his lap, and we transfer her into his arms.

The Bean yowls as Husband dresses her. What an indignity! She clearly was not finished playing!

Her hair, after a bath, is feathery and soft. We call it her chicken fluff, because she was our little spring chicken. She smells warm and sweet, like fresh laundry.

Bean is always in a good mood after her bath these days. She's cuddly and happy. She is easy to put to sleep on these nights.